El Tour Week – Much Help Needed!!

As if last week were not busy enough, here comes El Tour week! Many details below – please read!! We need a little help from a lot of people this week to make everything work. Please let Daniela know when and where you can help.

Everyone: make sure all riders are eating well, getting to bed early, taking some extra vitamin C, and generally staying healthy all week!

Tuesday: “Recovery” ride to Wakefield Middle School to talk with bike club there and ride back – regular practice time. If anything is acting funny on your bike, NOW is the time to say it and help get it fixed up!

Wednesday: Group ride during regular practice time – back by 5:30pm. WE NEED HELP with bike valet at the Fox Theater and everyone is encouraged to go to the documentary, “With my Own Two Wheels” at the Fox. More info here. Bike valet needs to start 6pm (Daniela will set up at 5:30pm). Movie starts at 7pm and is only 42 minutes long. PLEASE buy your tickets for $5 through Daniela, which is a special El Grupo price. I will have them at the bike valet. Also, we should set up an El Grupo table inside the Fox to sell t-shirts and generally have info on El Grupo. Anyone want to help with that?

Thursday: Wear your El Grupo t-shirts! Regular practice time for all to ride over to Tucson Convention Center and pick up packets for El Tour. IMPORTANT: You MUST have a photo ID with you and pick this up in person yourself!! This is also time to present yourselves to current and future potential sponsors and pick up some free stuff. If you cannot go on Thursday during practice, you MUST GO to pick up your stuff in person at the EXPO before our dinner on Friday. More info on times to do that & the EXPO here.

For those going to the Rahsaan Bahati Dedication Dinner (Logan, Donovan, Jesse, Lizzy, Keenan, Ben, Daniel, Olivia, Connor, Kathleen, Ignacio, Nippy…and we have a spot for one more!), we will need to be at the dinner by 6:30pm or so at the Scottish Rite Center (across the street from the TCC). You must have homework done before the dinner! More info on the dinner can be found here. Wear your El Grupo t-shirts! Expect to leave the dinner (whether it’s over or not) by 8:30pm to get to bed.

Friday: Bring your bike for El Tour to the dinner if it needs to be at the 111 mile start line. We will have our annual pre El Tour pasta dinner at Stone Curves Co-Housing starting at 5:30pm – 7:30pm. This year, since we are such a big group (expecting around 70 people at the dinner!), I am asking folks to sign up to bring one of the dishes below. El Grupo will provide grilled chicken for the masses, and will need help with grilling. We will have access to Stone Curves as early as 3pm to cook in their commercial kitchen, if needed. Please let Daniela know ASAP what you will be bringing. Thanks!

The team van will get loaded with bikes (all 18 if possible) and Daniela will drive it to the start at 3:30AM. Please help!! I need 4-6 other people to help me at this time get bikes from the van to the start line area to hold spots for El Grupo. At least 2 of those individuals will need to stay with the bikes (Occupy style!). Daniela will drive the van back to the house.

All 111 mile riders will meet at D & I’s house at 5:30AM with LOTS OF EXTRA WARM CLOTHES!! The van and maybe one other vehicle (?) will drive everyone over to the start to the bikes (thus, relieving the helpers). At least 3 people are needed to wait at the start until the riders are off to carry back extra warm clothes that riders will shed before heading out. The 111 milers start at 7am. We should start waiting for them to arrive by no later than 12:30PM to be safe – they could come in as late as 1:30PM or so.

Now for the 60 milers! You all start your ride at 10:30AM from SWAN & FORT LOWELL. Riders doing the 60 mile event include: Jade, Emily, Olivia, David, Mose, Liam, Colin, Monique, Mark Franklin, Steve Bohn(?), and Nippy (who will be starting with the 111 milers and peeling off at this start line, also). THESE FOLKS NEED TO DECIDE WHERE THEY WANT TO MEET – Ideally everyone meets up at a nearby location to the start line to ride in together to the start line. You should meet no later than 9am to be at the start line location no later than 9:30am. AGAIN – these folks need to make time this week to coordinate the details of this since many of you will be going from your homes nearby. Those that don’t live nearby will need help getting to the start. We should start waiting for the 60 milers to arrive by no later than 1:00pm to be safe – they could come in as late as 2:30pm.

EVERYONE: Bring a change of clothes for afterwards either to D & I’s house or send it with your parents/friends meeting you at the finish line.

After El Tour: Everyone is invited to gather immediately after El Tour back at D & I’s house to eat food, rest & celebrate once you have all hung out at the finish line and picked up your medals.

And then, yes, we all get to rest.

Sunday: SLEEP!

5 Responses to “El Tour Week – Much Help Needed!!”

(Kathleen)
1.I will make a massive salad for Friday’s dinner. I’m taking off work at noon on Friday so if anyone wants access to the Stone Curves kitchen before 3pm, I can meet you. Stone Curves is at the southwest corner of Stone and Limberlost. There is a parking lot both on the east (Limberlost) and north(Limberlost) sides. You may park in any uncovered parking space. My number in case you need it is: 245-6711.
To minimize our clean-up which will already be huge due to the number of people coming, if someone could also sign up to bring sturdy paper plates and plastic utensils, that would be awesome!
2. I can help Daniela get the bikes to the start (if need be) but can’t stay as I will have to go back and get Logan (unless someone else can pick him up). I’ll be one of the people who will help lug gear and stuff back to the clubhouse…it will take easily 3 people to do this. The last two years I have had to ask strangers at the start to help me.
3. I’ll meet the AB team at any designated stops they do with food/water/photograph as Ignacio directs. It would be nice to have 1-2 people tag along with me to help as the group is so big.
4. Not sure if C team will have a stop but if they do, they too will need a car with food/water and someone to photograph them. They will also need 1-2 people at the start to get all of their extra gear that they will not need for the Tour.

C TEAM:
Possible 9AM parking/meeting spots:
McCormick Park, on Columbus between Glenn and Ft. Lowell–it’s a few blocks West of the Start (thru neighborhood streets)
Or University NASA Space Bldgs (4717 E. Fort Lowell)
, NE corner of Swan/Glenn–on the North side of Glenn just East of Swan, there’s a parking lot outside a cpl of buildings (I think they aren’t used on weekends). This is almost right across the street from the start…